Unwanted Savior
by xxlaura
Summary: A picture perfect sixteen year old girl goes missing after she comes back from her friend's house. As the team reconstructs her life, they have to decide whether her perfection was just a front or if she was simply an innocent victim.
1. 01: Picture Perfect

**Beginning A/N**: Ok, well, this is my first _Without a Trace_ fan fiction that I've actually posted. I randomly came up with it one day, and so I wrote it within the next two days in my free time. I've been out of school for three months, so my writing is a little rusty, but I'm pleased with the overall product. So, without further ado, I give you my story.

Chapter One: Picture Perfect

Seven Hours Missing:

Danny walked up behind Jack as he stood outside a nice looking house in a quiet neighborhood. Police cars were parked next to the house, and men in uniforms were emerging and submerging into the house every few minutes.

"So. Who's it going to be today?" he asked, peering over Jack's shoulder.

"Natalie Bruckner. 16. Last seen leaving her best friend's house at 9:45 last night. She never made it home."

"Parents?"

"Julia and Brian Bruckner. The mother's the head nurse at a doctor's office down at Doctor's Hospital. The father's in accounting with a small company."

"Money problems?"

"Not yet."

"Marriage?"

"Stable."

"Siblings?"

"One brother. Twelve. He's pretty shook up. He doesn't really understand what's going on."

"What's the girl's profile so far?"

"She's sixteen. She'll be a junior when school starts back up again in August. You should look at these grades," Jack said, handing Danny a sheet of paper as they walked into the house.

Danny chuckled as his eyes ran down the sheet of paper. "Honors English, A. Honors Chemistry, A. Honors Latin III, A. World History, A+."

"And check out her schedule for next year."

Danny turned the sheet over and read. "My God, Jack, I didn't even know they _had_ half of these classes... Honors Physics, AP Latin IV, AP English... so did she run away from the pressure?"

"It's the middle of July. It's doubtful."

"But possible.

"Fine. Go talk to the teachers."

Danny turned on a dime and headed back the way he came.

Martin walked out of a room on Jack's left and gave him the run down on the information that he had found.

"According to the little brother, Natalie doesn't have a boyfriend or any troublesome ex's. She likes horses, white tulips, and her dog. And she's pretty active in her church's youth group," Martin looked up at Jack. "Maybe something happened there."

"Follow it up. Take Samantha with you," he added after some consideration. "I'm going to talk to the parents.

Martin gave a small nod before heading out the door that Danny had left through a few moments ago.

Ten minutes later, Jack was sitting in the Bruckner's kitchen with Mr. and Mrs. Bruckner sitting across from him.

"Has Natalie ever been in any sort of trouble?" Jack questioned, his eyes going between the tearful, nervous mother to the brooding father. "At school, with friends... anything you can think of?"

The mother shook her head and dabbed her eyes with the Kleenex in her hand. "No. Never. Well, I mean, she got a detention last year for being a few minutes late to class. But she was walking from one side of the campus to the other."

"Has she ever been involved with drugs or alcohol?"

She shook her head again and hiccupped. "She would never."

Jack gaze landed on her father who sent him a piercing glare as if daring him to accuse his daughter of doing drugs.

"What about any friends or boyfriends that might lead her into trouble?"

Jack was expecting the same answer, but instead the mother glanced up to her husband before she turned to Jack.

"Well. She does have this one friend… Heather..."

"You don't think Heather has anything to do with this, do you?" her husband asked, looking rather taken aback.

"Who's Heather?" Jack asked shortly.

"Oh, um, she and Natalie have been best friends ever since they were about two. We went to the same school until they were in sixth grade. And they still go to church together."

"And why would Heather be a cause of concern?"

The mother hedged a little bit before answering. "After sixth grade, Heather went to public school and Natalie was accepted into a very good private school. Heather... she fell into the wrong crowd. She became angry and hostile. She did drugs. She stole. She had sex with random boys—"

"And Natalie is still friends with her?" Jack asked, surprised that such a good school girl such as Natalie would even associate with a girl that Mrs. Bruckner was describing.

"She always stood by Heather," she continued. "At times, it was almost too hard for Natalie. All of Heather's problems became Natalie's problems. Heather was not being a very good friend, but Natalie couldn't seem to let go of her."

"And even now? They're still close?"

"Well, Heather's parents finally got her a therapist, and she's been much better. She's been clean for several months now, and she's acting more normal. I mean, as normal as things can be. Natalie thinks that Heather's behavior is obnoxious and... well, as she put it, _slutty._"

Jack nodded as he understood. "But other than her past behavior, you have no reason to suspect that Heather had anything to do with Natalie's disappearance?"

Mrs. Bruckner hesitated for a moment as she thought and then shook her head. "No."

After jotting a last note on his pad, Jack stood up and observed the worried couple. "We'll find her. If you hear any news about her, please call us."

Jack left the Bruckner house and immediately upon setting foot on their front porch, his cell phone rang. The caller ID flashed "Taylor"

"Danny boy. What do the teachers have to say?" Jack asked, as he unlocked his car.

"They all say that she was the perfect student," Danny's voice crackled from the other line. "Never caused any trouble. Didn't have any friends that could cause any trouble either. They didn't have any idea of where she could have gone."

"Well, I've got a lead for you. Take Vivian and go to 857 West Avenue and see if you can get anything out of Heather Birch and her parents."

"Heather Birch? As in Natalie's best friend?"

"As in the person who was last to see her and has a drug, alcohol, and sexual history."

Danny made a disgusted sort of noise over the phone before switching gears. "What'd you get out of the parents?"

"About the same as the teachers. The girl is a perfect angel in their eyes. She's got impressive grades—"

"I know. 3.8 GPA. Her teachers made sure to tell me several times. And she's only a junior in high school."

"She goes to church, she's active in the youth group they have there… Martin and Sam are over there now. There's got to be more to this girl than meets the eye."

"What, she's got a secret drug addiction?"

"Maybe. Heather Birch was into that scene a few years ago before she went into therapy."

"The source, hmm?"

"Guess you'll find out," Jack said grimly before hanging up. It was sad really to see such a smart, highly esteemed girl get caught up in such a bad scene just because of her loyalty to her friend.

**Ending A/N**: Yeah, another author's note. Ok, well please leave reviews. As you all know reviews are what authors thrive on. So please help me thrive. :) It gets more interesting as it goes on, I promise. This is meant to be written as an actual episode runs. But the characters and the all of the background information (minus the name changes) are based on things that are going on in my life. The missing girl is based off of me. Heather is based off of one of my friends, who I have known since I was two. Oh, and bonus points if you can figure out who's my favorite character is by the end.


	2. 02: Loyal Friend

Chapter Two: Loyal Friend

19 Hours Missing:

"So, Kevin, you and Natalie are pretty close?" Martin asked the teenage boy sitting down in front of him. He and Samantha were at the church where Natalie had attended since she could walk, interviewing the kids in the youth program.

"Kind of," Kevin replied unhelpfully.

Samantha gave him a look and Kevin sighed before elaborating.

"I mean, we talked sometimes and stuff, but it's not like I knew any of her secrets."

"What was her relationship like with all of the other kids here?" Samantha asked.

"Pretty good, I guess. No one disliked Natalie. She's kind of quiet, but we all like her. She's pretty funny if you catch her in the right mood."

"What about the relationship between her and Heather?"

"What about Heather?"

"Heather was the last person to see Natalie before she disappeared."

Kevin looked rather disturbed by this news. "Really?"

"Yeah. Now, answer the question. What was the relationship like between Natalie and Heather?"

"Well... during elementary school, you could hardly tell the two apart. And you couldn't separate them either. They were like sisters. They looked like sisters. They acted like sisters. They were best friends. They were both smart. They were both the nicest kids you'd ever met."

"Yet we've heard that Heather seemed to have taken a dive into the deep end. Any idea what that's about?"

"Heather went to a pretty rough public school after elementary school. Natalie went to a really good private school. I guess they just... followed their own crowd."

"And what about recently? Any arguments... conversations that you've heard between the two of them?"

Kevin frowned thoughtfully as he tried to think. "Well... yes, actually. It was a few days ago. On Sunday."

"What happened?" Martin asked, pen ready to take any notes.

"We were all waiting around for Sunday school to start, right over there," Kevin pointed to a side corridor off to the side of the room where they were sitting. "And it looked like Heather and Natalie were fighting..."

"Did you hear what about?"

"It sounded like it was about a guy..."

_"I can't believe you're still going to see him!" Natalie whispered loudly as she rounded on Heather as the pair walked down the hall. "After everything he's done!"_

_"Oh, come on. He's changed." Heather said, blowing off Natalie's remark._

_"He hasn't, and you know it, Heather," Natalie said seriously. "He's still into the drugs and the drinking and the sex--"_

_"So what? I won't do the drugs. Besides, if he's with me, it means he's not getting high at someone else's house."_

_"And he'll be bringing drugs to _you_ instead. Heather, think about this."_

_"I have, Natalie!" Heather said, raising her voice for the first time in the conversation. Her eyes flashed angrily. "You can't tell me what to do. And I'm not going to listen to you."_

_"But Heather... I'm just trying to look out for you..."_

_"I don't need someone to look after me, Natalie," she said fiercely._

"And do you have any idea who they were talking about?" Samantha asked.

Kevin shook his head. "No one's into drugs here."

Samantha raised an eyebrow as if to question his statement. He understood and replied earnestly. "Really. I'd tell you."

"You went to school with her then?" Martin changed the subject.

"What? Oh, uh, yeah," Kevin said, turning to Martin, looking relieved for the change of subject. "Through most of elementary school. She was really smart, even back then. But you can kind of just tell she is also. She's always just been... intimidating almost. Sometimes you don't want to talk to her because you're afraid of saying something stupid, and then she'll just—"

"How long have you liked her?" Martin asked suddenly.

Kevin faltered, but the look on his face gave him dead away. "Wh-what do you mean?"

"How long... have you liked her," Martin repeated, more slowly.

"How... why would you say—"

"Believe me, I know what it's like when you're afraid of saying something stupid in front of a girl, especially if you like her."

Kevin looked from Martin to Samantha and back to Martin before he knew he was caught.

"A couple of months," he said quietly.

"Mmhmm... and does she know?" Samantha asked.

"I... I'm not sure."

"Anyone else know?"

There was a brief pause before Kevin answered.

"My ex-girlfriend."

Samantha and Martin exchanged a quick look.

"Her name is..."

"Trisha. Weaver."

"Alright, thanks for you time, Kevin," Martin said, standing up as Samantha did the same.

"Wait, you don't think Trisha had anything to do with this do you?" Kevin asked quickly.

"You never know," Samantha said as she opened the door and left.

---

"Mrs. Birch, can you describe the friendship between Natalie and Heather for me?" Vivian asked as she and the Birches were seated around their living room. Danny was questioning Heather in the next room.

"Well, Natalie has always been there for Heather through her... her hard times…"

"What hard times, Mrs. Birch?" Vivian asked.

Mrs. Birch looked at her husband for a moment. He nodded and she continued on.

"She, uh… she got into drugs. Smoking. Alcohol. Sex. The whole nine yards."

"And do you have any reason to believe that Heather… introduced Natalie to drugs or alcohol?" Vivian asked, opening her pad of paper.

Mrs. Birch shook her head and replied firmly. "No. Natalie has always been Heather's… stabilizing rock. Sometimes when she wouldn't listen to us, she'd listen to Natalie."

"Mmm…" Vivian said thoughtfully. "And how is Heather's behavior now?"

"Better," Mr. Birch said. "She's in control now. She actually stays around and talks to the family. She's not doing drugs, she's not stealing. She's almost back to normal."

"And what triggered that change?"

"She went into therapy several months ago. There were some things that her doctor prescribed for her, and they've worked. Quite well."

"So there hasn't been anything lately in her behavior that would suggest that she's getting into trouble again?"

Both of the parents thought about it for several seconds, but then shook their heads. "No. Nothing we can think of. She's been going out with Natalie a lot lately to go to movies or dinner, but that's it. And with Natalie, she never causes any trouble."

"Ok, well, thank you very much for your time," Vivian said, standing up. "If you hear anything..."

The Birches simply nodded.

---

"So what time did you see Natalie leave your house?" Danny asked, leaning forward in his chair, observing Heather. She was sixteen as well, but couldn't have been any different than the description he had heard about Natalie. Heather's hair was a brilliantly fake blonde, cut very short and jagged. She wore extraordinarily short shorts and a tight black shirt displaying the name of some band Danny had never heard of.

"It was about 9:30... 9:45. Why?" she asked defensively.

"Because she's missing. That's why," Danny said, observing the girl with dislike. "And what did you two do that night?"

"We went to the movies," Heather said, looking almost bored as she picked at a hangnail on her left hand. "And then we went to Sonic afterwards to get a drink. Natalie always gets a chocolate shake."

"And there was nothing unusual in her behavior that night?"

"Like what?" she asked, sounding annoyed.

"Like anything."

Heather thought for a few seconds. "No. Not really."

"And there was no one suspicious hanging around? No one following you?"

A muscle in Heather's bottom jaw twitched. "No."

"No one at all."

"I said, no."

Danny raised his eyebrow at her as he started to dislike the girl less and less. "You don't seem particularly worried. Or interested."

"She'll turn up eventually," Heather said carelessly. "I mean, she's probably in the library or something. She's read more books than I can name."

"I don't doubt it," Danny said to himself as he stood up. "Well, if you hear anything from her, please let us or your parents know."

"Sure."

**A/N**: Thanks to all of the lovely comments so far. It really makes writing this story worth while. You know the pace of the show: investigation starts with questions, and questions lead to actions. The pace really begins to pick up in the next chapter. And you're always welcome to share your own thoughts for what's going on in the story, comment on characters' reactions or anything else. Writing is interactive. Thank you again for the support. Oh, and I won't be able to post for the next week or so because I'm going on a trip before school starts. But, I'll post first thing when I get back.

--Laura


	3. 03: Message from the Camera

Chapter Three: Message from the Camera

23 Hours Missing:

Back at the office, everyone debriefed everyone else on what they had learned. After about twenty minutes of sharing information, Jack assigned them to their duties.

"Martin and Vivian, I want you two to the Sonic that Heather and Natalie were at last night and check their alibi. Danny, I want you to check the phone records from both her cell phone and the house phone. She also had a debit card. Check those charges. Sam, you and I are going downstairs to check out Trisha Weaver. Let's find this girl before something really bad happens."

With that, the team spilt up into their separate missions. Danny pushed off from the bullpen table and glided back to his desk on his rolling chair, picking up his phone once he got into reach. Martin and Vivian took off down the hall to the elevators, while Sam and Jack turned the other way to the interrogation room.

---

"Have you seen her before?" Martin asked one of the Sonic waiters. The waiter took the picture of Natalie, looked at it for a few moments and then handed it back to him.

"Sure. She comes down here every so often with one of her friends. Always gets a chocolate shake."

"Is this her friend?" Vivian handed him a picture of Heather. The waiter recognized her immediately.

"Oh, sure. She's much louder, this one is. And she comes down here without the other one. With others. Boys usually."

"Anything unusual happen with the people she brings down here?" Martin asked. "Any sign of violence or argument?"

The waiter shook his head. "Never. It always seems like they're on a date or something. They're holding hands, kissing on each other. This one—" he pointed at the picture of Heather again. "She's very forward."

"How so?" Vivian asked.

"Never caring that they're making out—and _really_ making out—right in public. And the guys aren't any better."

"Was it usually the same guy that she came with?" Martin asked.

"Uh, sometimes. There was this one kid that she came down here almost as often as that girl."

"Can you describe him?"

He took a moment to think about it. "About the same height as the girls. Maybe a little taller. Short, dark hair. Always wearing those black shirts with some band on it."

"And you never caught his name?"

He shook his head. "Never caught the girls' either. Too many people come here."

"And what time did they come down here last night?" Martin asked.

"Well, the girls came down here around 9:15. Ordered their drinks—the chocolate shake again. And then he came about five minutes afterwards."

Vivian's head snapped up. "Wait, what?"

"I said he came about five minutes after the girls did. They talked for awhile. I will say that that one girl, Natalie? She didn't seem to like that boy at all."

"So, the boy. He was there last night?"

"Yeah, saw him come and sit with them."

"I guess Heather forgot to tell us about him," Martin said dryly.

"Did he ever show up any other times that the two of them were here?"

"Yeah, a few times. He started coming with both of them about a week ago."

Martin and Vivian exchanged glances before thanking the waiter for his help and walking towards the car.

"I bet you anything that this guy, he's who the argument was over that Kevin overheard," Martin said firmly.

"I'm with you on that," Vivian nodded. "Let's go back and visit Heather and her parents."

---

A nervous-looking young brunette sat in the chair on one side of the table as Jack and Samantha entered the room.

"Trisha Weaver?" Jack asked as he sat down in the chair across from her. Samantha stood behind him with her arms crossed.

"Yes?" she squeaked rather than answered.

"Do you know Natalie Bruckner?"

She nodded, looking from Samantha to Jack. "I heard she was missing. What's happened?"

"We were hoping that you could give us some information about that."

Looking stunned, Trisha just sat there. "Um. Ok. I'm not sure how much help I'll—"

"You dated Kevin Greening, is that correct?"

Trisha looked more confused than ever. "Yes… but we broke up a few months ago."

"Who broke up with whom?"

Trisha blushed. "He did."

"And… how'd you feel?"

"Well, how you have you felt?" she answered bitterly. "We'd been going out for ten months, and then he just breaks it off."

"And you have no idea why?"

"No. Well, he said he needed space, or something stupid like that."

There was a pause as Jack evaluated her answer. "What's Natalie's relationship like with Kevin?"

Trisha's eyes narrowed. "What do you mean by _relationship?"_

"I mean, how do they get along? Are there troubles between them or anything like that?"

"He likes her," she said simply, looking into her lap. "A lot."

"Kevin told you this?"

Trisha nodded.

"Are you jealous?" Samantha asked.

"A little bit," she admitted with a small, embarrassed smile. "I can't help it."

"Where were you last night?"

"At home. With my brother. We were watching some show, I don't even remember what."

"Ok," Jack said with a sigh of disappointment that another lead was eliminated. "Well thank you, Trisha."

"I helped?"

"You helped eliminate yourself from being a suspect. Although, we will have to check your alibi."

Trisha looked shocked. "I was a _suspect?"_

"Everyone's a suspect," Samantha said as she was walking out the door. "Don't take it personally."

---

Danny's eyes scanned the newly faxed debit card charges. He hadn't found anything remotely interesting in either the house or her personal phone records, and now wished Jack had assigned him to go with him to question Trisha Weaver instead of watching his desk.

"Tuesday afternoon… $23.45 on _Fiskes Guide to Colleges_… Wednesday morning, $4.50 on a blueberry muffin from Starbucks. I think we've got a criminal on our hands now…" Danny sighed as he flipped the page.

And then—

"A withdrawal of $2000?" Danny repeated aloud, wondering if it was a misprint. "That… that's not normal."

He picked up his phone and dialed the bank where the ATM had been stationed next to.

"Yeah, this is Agent Taylor with the FBI. Do you think you could fax me over a picture from the surveillance camera from the ATM right outside your bank at…" Danny checked the debit card statements. "10:05 last night? Yeah. Great, thanks."

As he hung up the phone, Danny tried to think of any possible reason why a girl with such a good reputation would need two thousand dollars in cash right before she disappears.

It was a few minutes before the fax started ringing. Danny pushed himself over to the machine and waited impatiently as the picture was printed. As the fax spit out the picture from the camera, Danny's eyes went wide and let out a low whistle.

---

Jack's phone rang as he and Samantha walked back to the bullpen to cross Trisha Weaver off their list of suspects. The ID flashed "Fitzgerald."

"Go ahead, Martin," he answered.

"Ok, so get this," Martin said excitedly from the other line. "A guy around the same age as the girls was at Sonic last night with them. The waiter said that he had seen him several times before usually just with Heather, but occasionally with both her and Natalie."

"Who is he?"

"We're not sure, but we're going to the Birches' to figure it out. What about Trisha Weaver?"

"I don't think she did it, but we've got to run her alibi just in case."

"And Danny?"

"We're going to talk to him right—"

"Jack! Jack!"

"Actually, it looks like Danny's coming to us… Go to the Birches and see what you can dig up about this guy."

Just as he hung up, Danny came skidding around the corner, a piece of paper in his hand. He hadn't looked so excited about something for a long time.

"Jack! Ok, so last night at 10:05, someone made a _two thousand_ dollar cash withdrawal from Natalie's account with her debit card."

"That's a lot of money for a sixteen year old."

"A sixteen year old with access to drugs," Jack added grimly. "So, what do you think?"

"Well, I got this surveillance shot from the camera at the ATM. Jack, look at it."

Jack took the piece of paper out of Danny's hand and looked at it. His eyebrows shot up as he showed it to Samantha.

"She's in trouble."

"Deep trouble."

"Let's make another call to the Bruckners," Jack said quickly. "Danny, you too."

Danny reclaimed his well-found prize as Jack handed him back the picture. He glanced down at it again, and saw Natalie Bruckner looking up, straight at the ATM camera. Behind her were two people, one boy and one girl. The other girl had short, light hair and a tight black shirt. The boy also had on a black shirt, but it was what he was holding that made them all nervous. Even in the grainy resolution of the picture, it was clear that he was holding a gun against the middle of Natalie's back. But that wasn't the only attention-grabbing thing about the photo. Apparently Natalie knew that someone was going to be looking for her, because she was holding piece of paper so that the camera could see it in her hand and it had something written on it in marker.

"It's Heather and Cody. **Help me**."

**A/N:** Ok, so _finally_ the plot thickens a bit more. Thank you for the _wonderful_ reviews. They make my day. I can't really think of anything else to add… except to keep reviewing. Oh, and if you haven't figured out my favorite character yet, you should by now. And everyone pretty much got it right off. Am I just that obvious? Answer: yes.


	4. 04: Wrong Place, Wrong Time

Chapter Four: Wrong Place, Wrong Time

27 Hours Missing:

As it turned out, the Birches were at the Bruckners' house, attempting to comfort the distressed Mr. and Mrs. Bruckner. The team sat on one side of the living room as the two couples sat on the other side on the couch. Danny and Martin had taken Heather aside into another room.

"What's going on?" Mr. Bruckner asked as he looked from Samantha to Jack to Vivian. "Have you found anything about Natalie?"

"Last night at 10:05, Natalie made a withdrawal of two thousand dollars from her bank account," Jack said. "Do you have any idea what that was about?"

The Bruckners looked at one another and then back at Jack in disbelief. "No… Oh, my God, does that mean that she was planning on leaving? Has she run away?"

"Under other circumstances, we would have considered it," Samantha said. "But then our Agent Taylor discovered this picture from the surveillance camera from the ATM where she made the withdrawal."

She pushed the picture across the coffee table to the Bruckners. Mrs. Bruckner took the picture in her hands and gasped. She looked up at her husband whose eyes were locked onto the gun in the picture.

"Someone's holding a gun to my daughter…" he said faintly. "Who the hell is that?"

"Judging by the note that Natalie flashed the camera, his name is Cody. Do you know who Cody is?"

"Cody… Cody is Heather's boyfriend," Mrs. Bruckner replied softly.

"Boyfriend?" Mrs. Birch spoke for the first time that the agents had shown up. "Heather doesn't have a boyfriend."

There was a stony silence in the room as the mothers looked at each other.

"Natalie's been telling me about Cody for the past week," Mrs. Bruckner explained. "She told me that he was bad news. He was into the drug and alcohol scene, and that she was worried that Cody was going to try to drag Heather into it again."

"And you two had no idea about him?" Jack asked, looking at the Birches.

They simply shook their heads, looking very shocked. "I… I didn't even know Heather _liked_ anyone…"

"It appears that sometimes when Heather said that she was going out with Natalie, she was really meeting this Cody at the Sonic that the girls sometimes go to."

"Oh, my God…" Mrs. Birch said quietly. "But… why… what is he doing with a _gun_ to Natalie?"

"I'm thinking that Natalie saw something that she shouldn't have. Something illegal that either Cody or both Cody and Heather were doing. Probably drugs. We'll find out after we take her down to the FBI offices and polygraph her."

"You think… you really think that Natalie's best friend and this… this… _boy_ would do something to her?" Mrs. Bruckner asked, looking terrified.

"He's got a gun, and Heather lied to us earlier," Jack said. He turned and knocked on the door where Danny and Martin had taken Heather. "Come on, guys. Let's take her back to the office."

---

"I didn't do _anything._" Heather said stubbornly as Danny and Jack sat with her in the interrogation room.

"So, you have no idea where this picture came from?" Danny asked, pushing the picture towards her.

Heather looked at it for a few seconds, and then back at the two men. "No."

"You have no idea why your name and your boyfriend's name are on that piece of paper?"

"No."

"And you have no idea who that girl, who looks remarkably like you, is in the background?"

"It's not me."

"And you have no idea why _your_ boyfriend has a _gun_ pointed at your best friend's back?"

"No."

Alright, well let me tell you why," Jack said, eyeing the girl with dislike. "I think that you and Natalie went to Sonic last night, and then Cody showed up. I think that Natalie really did not like Cody, and that she was scared that he was going to drag you down into drugs once again. And she'd lose you again."

"That's bullshit. Cody would never—"

"I am _not_ done," Jack said, raising his voice. "I also think that Cody dealt drugs. I think that you drove to Cody's house that night, and I think Natalie saw Cody's big stash of drugs, and then threatened to tell somebody."

"That's not true—" Heather tried to interrupt, but Danny could see the fear in her eyes.

"I think that Cody then threatened _Natalie_ that he would kill her if she did tell. Then I think that you, in some twisted heroic act, begged Cody not to kill your dear best friend, but just to take some of her money."

"No… no…" Heather said, but a tear had already rolled down her face.

"I think you drove to the ATM, where this picture was taken. Natalie knew she was in trouble and so she flashed the camera this message, knowing that if she didn't make it back home, someone would see the message after such a large amount was taken out of her account. Then you and Cody spilt the cash. You didn't have any other reason to keep Natalie around, and so you killed her."

"No!" Heather yelled through her tears. "I didn't kill her!"

"Then Cody did."

"No! He didn't, I swear!"

"Then _where is she?" _Danny asked dangerously, speaking for the first time since they came into the room.

"I… I don't know."

"Where's Cody?"

"I don't know…"

"What happened after you went to Sonic?"

"Cody… Cody came by about ten minutes after we got there. Natalie never liked Cody, so I didn't tell him he was coming… but I had to see him because he said that he had something for me. A present."

"Drugs?" Danny asked, glaring at the girl.

Heather glanced up at Danny, but didn't say anything. She just continued on with her story.

"So we all got in his car and drove to his house. I promised Natalie that it would take five minutes and she should just stay in the car…"

"_Come on. It's just five minutes," Heather said earnestly, looking at her frightened best friend in the back seat. "He just wants to give me a present."_

"_What kind of present?" Natalie asked accusingly._

"_Nothing for you to worry about," Heather smiled, though the smile didn't reach her eyes. Natalie's eyes fell on Cody who was standing right behind Heather. He had always given Natalie the creeps, and she would have never gotten in the car if she had known that they were going to his house. They had said that they were going to just look inside his car. "Just stay here," Heather said. "I'll be right back."_

_Heather closed the door to the car and walked with Cody, arm in arm._

_Five minutes turned to ten minutes which turned to fifteen minutes. Finally, Natalie got sick of waiting for Heather and got out of the car. She walked carefully up to the front door and knocked._

_No one answered._

_She knocked again, but no one answered. Now very scared, Natalie walked back to the car when she heard something from inside the garage. She turned back around and walked to the side door._

_Opening it slowly, she saw Cody and Heather standing by a table, looking at about a dozen small packages wrapped in clear plastic. She heard them talking in low voices._

"… _Come on," Cody said. "Just take two of them."_

"_Fine," Heather said, reaching out and taking two of the packets of drugs. "And I don't owe you anything?"_

_Cody smiled his sick, spine-chilling smile and put his arm around Heather's shoulders. "Don't worry about it, baby." He kissed her on the cheek. "Besides I've got at least three times this many coming in from one of my friends next week. I'm in total business. I'm never out."_

_Heather chuckled as she held the drugs in her hands, and then she lifted her gaze up to the side door and saw Natalie staring back at her with wide eyes._

"_What?" Cody asked, following Heather's gaze. Then he also saw Natalie._

"_What the hell? I thought I told you to wait in the car, bitch!" Cody yelled, advancing on Natalie. She remained still, either too frightened or too angry to move._

"_You said he didn't do drugs anymore," Natalie shouted at Heather. "Now he's got you into it again! I told you! God damn it, Heather, now we're back to square one!"_

"_Hey, you shut up!" Cody yelled at Natalie. "You know what we're going to do? We're just going to pretend that this night never happened."_

"_I don't think so," Natalie said in a deadly whisper, turning her eyes to Cody's dark, nearly black eyes._

"_Oh, well, I do," Cody said, reaching into his jacket pocket and drawing out a gun, pointing it at Natalie's forehead._

"_Cody!" Heather screamed. "Don't! Don't do it!"_

"_And why the hell not, Heather? She's seen everything, she knows everything. You told me yourself that you were sick of having this bitch hanging around you all the time, trying to tell you what to do."_

_Heather caught Natalie's expression as he said this. She looked beyond hurt._

"_Well, fine, but Cody, why don't we just take some of her money instead. She's loaded, really. She worked all summer. Just take that, and let her go."_

"_Yeah, how much do you have?" Cody asked, turning to Natalie._

"_A little over two thousand," Natalie whispered._

"_Then let's get in the damn car, and get it. But you," he said to Natalie. "You are to never repeat what you saw here. You understand?"_

_Natalie's eyes left Cody's face and looked at Heather. She looked pained and scared, but most of all she looked greedy. Natalie simply nodded her head._

"You gave up your _best friend_ to your boyfriend and _extortion?"_ Danny repeated as if he couldn't believe it.

"I was trying to not get her killed!" Heather shouted back at him. "I saved her."

"_Saved her?"_ Jack shouted loudly at her. "You may have well just gotten her killed, and I am not going to hesitate prosecuting you for accessory to kidnapping and murder. But I may be able to get a window in your cell if you tell me where she is now."

"I don't know."

"What do you _mean_ you don't know? Where did you take her after the ATM? After 10:05 last night?"

"Cody dropped me back off at the Sonic. It was closed, but my car was still there. He said that he was going to drop Natalie off at home next."

"And you _believed _him?"

"He had a gun! I couldn't really say no!"

"Exactly! He had a gun! You left an innocent girl in the hands of a drug-infested thug with a _gun."_

"I didn't have a choice! He would have shot me!"

"Maybe you should choose your company more carefully next time," Jack said harshly. "Natalie was a better friend than you ever deserve, and you deserted her."

"I didn't think it'd ever turn out this far… I didn't think—"

"You didn't think. It's a little too late for you to start thinking, Heather," Danny said with narrowed eyes and fists clenched. A good, innocent girl was out there, probably dead, because of this… _girl_ in front of him. "But here's what we're going to do. We're going to bring you upstairs to one of our techs. And we're going to connect your cell phone to one of our tracking devices. And then you are going to call Cody."

"I can't do that—"

"Oh, you can and you will," Jack said. "Let's go."

---

Ten minutes later, Jack, Danny, Vivian, and Heather were sitting in one of the rooms with Heather's cell phone connected to the tracking device.

"Go on. Call him," Danny said, handing her the phone.

"What do I say?" Heather asked, timidly. Ever since she had been caught, she had lost her ridiculously annoying attitude.

"Keep him talking. Gain his trust, and then ask him where Natalie is."

"What if he doesn't tell me?"

"As long as you keep him talking, we'll get a lock on his location. Now call him."

Heather took from one agent to the next and then dialed the number. Danny, Jack, and Vivian put the earphones to their ears as they listened to the phone ringing.

Then there was a male voice.

"Yeah?"

"Cody… it's me. It's Heather."

"Oh, hey, babe," he said casually. "What's going on?"

"Umm… nothing much… but, uh, Natalie didn't come home last night."

"So?"

"Cody, what did you to with her?"

"I didn't do anything to her."

"Cody, please tell me. I really miss her."

"That's bullshit," Cody laughed. "You don't miss her. You're just feeling guilty for stealing her money."

"Just tell me, please."

"Look, I don't have her. And I didn't hurt her, alright? But she's not going to tell anyone."

"We've got a lock on him," the tech said, looking up at the agents.

Danny glanced over at the screen. "4958 Main Street. There are a bunch of abandoned warehouses up there. Drug gang hangouts."

"Tell him your parents are walking up to you and hang up," Jack instructed Heather. "Vivian, grab Martin and Sam. We're going to give Mr. Cody a visit."

**A/N:** Another chapter. Hoorah! Ok, well, you guys know what to do. Review are amazingly appreciated. They make my day. I really like the next chapter. It makes me happy. So review in order to see it. I'm also about 14 or 15 chapters into another story that I started (not even kidding you) about a week ago. The inspiration just didn't die. I've never written a story that fast. It's pretty much amazing. I've got... maybe six of seven more chapters to add to it, and then I'll be posting it on here. It's a Danny/OC one, and it's, if I do say so myself, pretty good. Anyways, so please review! Thanks to those you have!


	5. 05: Hidden Message

Chapter Five: Hidden Message

29 Hours Missing:

Within fifteen minutes, the team was on the sight of the warehouse. Guns drawn, they walked around the parameter of the building, looking for escapes that Cody could use. After they were covered, Jack knocked on the large front door.

"FBI! Open up!"

There was nothing.

"FBI! Come out with your hands up!" Jack yelled again.

There was still nothing. Jack nodded at Samantha and Vivian to follow him in. "Danny, Martin. Watch the escapes."

The three of them proceeded inside. Danny and Martin waited outside the building with baited breath. There wasn't any shouting, no gun shots. It wasn't necessarily a good sign because it meant that Cody had left.

Then there was a loud noise to Danny's left. He turned and saw the back door swinging open and a teenage boy running at breakneck speed away from them.

"Martin! He's going for it!" Danny yelled, but Martin was just a step behind as Danny took off after the boy.

"Hey! FBI!" Martin yelled after the boy.

The boy glanced behind him, but kept running.

Danny and Martin were gaining quickly, and finally he was within reaching distance. Danny grabbed his shoulders, and tackled him down on some stuffed trash bags. He pushed him face down on the ground and pulled his arms behind his back. Martin stood just beside Danny with his gun aimed at the boy.

"Where is she, Cody?" Martin asked through his heavy breathing.

"I don't know!" Cody managed to say as Danny put the cuffs around his wrists. "Ouch, damnit, I don't know!"

"Well, then, we'll just have to take you back to the FBI offices and see if you're more talkative there," Danny said grimly as he hoisted the boy to his feet by his collar.

---

"Where is she?" Jack asked Cody from inside the interrogation room. He had brought Martin in with him, but had forbidden Danny for coming in. He probably would have torn the boy apart if he was so much let into the room. But Jack knew without a doubt that Danny was standing right outside the room, watching and listening to the boy.

"I told you, I don't know," Cody repeated. Cody looked much like the waiter had described him: about 5'7" with short, dark hair. His eyes were very dark, and they moved around the room in such a way that he looked like some kind of rodent. His left cheek was bruised, there was a small cut at the corner of his mouth, and he was sporting a black eye. But that wasn't from Danny tackling him.

"Where'd you get the bruises?" Martin asked coldly.

Cody shrugged. "Brothers."

"You don't have any brothers," Jack replied sharply. "Now listen up, Cody. I've got a sixteen year old girl out there who is missing. She was last seen with you and your girlfriend after you extorted two thousand dollars out of her. You were also seen with her with a _gun_ to her back. Now, here's what I think what happened. I think that after you dropped Heather off at her house, I think that you had no need for Natalie anymore. So I think you killed her. She must have put up a pretty good fight though. She gave you a nice black eye there."

"I didn't kill her."

"Then _where is she?"_ Martin asked impatiently.

"_I don't know!"_

"Then what the hell happened?"

"I… I couldn't have her around anymore," Cody said unwillingly. "She knew too much. I knew she was going to tell someone eventually. And I'd go to jail…"

"Oh, well, you can bet your life that you're going to go to jail after we're done with you. What happened?"

"I called… one of my friends—"

"Drug buddies?"

Cody hesitated before nodding.

"And?"

"I told him that she had seen everything. I told him that I couldn't kill her though because she was my girlfriend's best friend."

"So he came and killed her?"

"I don't know. He told me to meet him in the warehouse at about midnight last night. And he'd take her off my hands."

"And so he took her."

"I have no idea where she is now."

"What's his name?"

"Troy… Baker."

"What kind of car was he driving?"

"I don't know."

"You don't know a lot of things," Martin said angrily. "Anything else useful? Do you know where he was going to take her?"

Cody shook his head.

Jack looked at the boy for a few seconds before standing up abruptly. "You are disgusting," he spat.

He walked over to the door and opened it. As expected, Danny was waiting there outside the door with his arms crossed, not taking his eyes off the boy.

---

"Jack, they searched the warehouse," Samantha said, catching up to him in the hall after he came out of the interrogation room. "And they found a letter."

"From Natalie?"

Samantha nodded.

"What kind of letter?"

"It's… odd. I'm not really sure what she thinking…" Samantha handed him a piece of paper with handwriting on it.

"Mom, Dad, and Justin,

First off, Mom, there's a COVER LETTER for my English paper in my bedroom. There are a few corrections: the whole words are underlined and the single letters are marked.

Second of all, I really hope and pray that you understand what's going on. Dad, your cool fish do make your pond amazing. Have faith in me. There are some things that you have to do really urgently so that you can be happy. Justin, give that book back that you took from his house. Yes, I know about it. I'm in a quandary about what to ware to that party at the girl's house. It's at 11:15 on Wednesday night. I know that's late, but I really want to go. A man in the mall dropped something one day and I was going picking it up for him. He thanked me. Up in the sky, Sirius will be visible soon. He was my favorite character as well because he's loyal I think I know too much about Harry Potter. I think that he's going to kill Harry in the last book. That hurt me. I saw his movie about a car. The movie was lame, but the cover was cool. It was black and it had his license plate on it. I'll order it off eBay. The product code is A30. Order it for me using my debit card. You'll need to know the last three digits of my card which are 4G5. We're going to see a movie, if that's OK.

Mom, Dad, and Justin, if I never see you again, please know that I always love you. I'm sorry for anything that I ever did to hurt you. Take care of Lucy, and make sure she doesn't pee on my bed. Tell Heather that I forgive her, and that I hope she stays on the right path. Oh, and Mom, your birthday present is under my bed. I haven't wrapped it yet. I really do love you all.

Natalie.

"It's very… random," Jack said, frowning as he looked over it. "Except for this last part. That looks true."

"You don't think this is a suicide note, do you?" Samantha asked gently.

"No. I don't think so. This was in the warehouse where she was?"

"Yeah, and so was this other piece of paper. I don't know what it is."

She handed him another piece of paper that had some random dots and dashes spread out across the page.

"It's definitely not Morse code…" Jack said.

"What's not Morse code?" Danny had just walked up.

"This is a letter Natalie left in the warehouse. And it doesn't make any sense," Jack said handing it to him. He noticed the papers in Danny's hands. "What've you got?"

"Forensics' report on the warehouse. There was definitely trace of drugs found, and blood—AB positive. Same as Natalie's." Danny was now looking at the letter Natalie had written and the piece of paper found with it. "Hey, can I take this really quick?" he asked suddenly.

"Sure. And check in with Martin on that background of Troy Baker."

Danny nodded and walked back to his desk. He spotted Martin's back as he typed away madly on his computer.

"So what's the deal with Troy Baker?" Danny asked, looking over his shoulder.

"Not good. Armed robbery. Drug possession. He got off on technicalities. This guy is not good news."

"And we can find him…?"

"Nowhere. The address he listed was that warehouse. The phone number is one to a payphone. He's going to be hard to find. I'm going to tell Jack."

Martin got up and left, leaving Danny with Natalie's letter in hand. His eyes scanned the piece of paper. There were so many weird things about the letter. Why was "cover letter" in all caps? What on earth was she talking about? And what was the piece of paper with the random marks on it about?

Danny sighed and put the randomly marked piece of paper over the other one as he walked back to his desk. He glanced down at the papers again, and stopped.

The papers were relatively thin and he could see through randomly marked one and still read the letter. With the corners of the papers lined up so that ones was directly and symmetrically on top of the other, there was a line that went directly under the word "ware." Almost as if it was underlined.

Danny reread the sentence: "I'm in a quandary about what to ware to that party at the girl's house." He frowned. Why would an A+ Honors English student use the wrong use of the word "ware"? She clearly meant "wear," and yet she had written "ware."

Frowning still, Danny's eyes glanced up to the top of the letter where it said "COVER LETTER."

"The whole words are underlined and the single letters are marked."

He looked at the two pieces of paper on top of each other and realized that several of the words were underlined. The word underlined after "ware" was… _"house."_

Danny's heart leapt and he ran to his desk and grabbed a pen and began to translate Natalie's hidden message.

---

Jack was sitting at his desk with his hands over his face. It didn't seem that there was any hope left for Natalie. They had hit a dead end with Troy Baker. They didn't know where he was, who he was (besides the fact that he was dangerous), or how to reach him.

He really hated cases like these. The ones were the victim was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time with the wrong people. It was so awfully depressing. It was times like these that made Jack hate what he did.

"If this girl was ten years older, I think I'd marry her," Danny said, pushing the door open to Jack's office.

"Danny, what are you—"

"You would think that an A+ Honors English student would know the difference between the words 'ware' and 'wear,' right?" Danny asked, excitedly.

"They sound the same to me…"

Danny made an impatient noise and wrote the two words down on a notepad on Jack's desk. "Those two words. You'd think she'd know the difference, right?"

"Right…"

"Well, look. See, here, she confuses the two words," Danny pointed to the mistake.

"Danny, what is this about? A grammar lesson?"

"No, no, no, no, no. You see this piece of paper here?" Danny held up the randomly marked one. "This, this is her _cover letter."_

"The cover letter that she talks about?"

"The very one. She said that 'the whole words are underlined and the single letters are marked.' Jack, look. If you put this piece of paper _over_ the letter, some of the words and letters are—"

"Marked. She's sent us a message."

"And my guess is that she put it in code because she didn't want Cody to know about it."

"You've already got it written out, I assume."

"You've assumed correctly," Danny grinned. He pulled another sheet of paper out of his pocket with his messy handwriting scrawled on it. "And she writes: _'Heather and Cody have me. There are drugs at his house. I'm in a warehouse. It's 11:15 on Wednesday night. A man is picking me up soon because I know too much. I think that he's going to kill me. I saw his car. It was black. The license plate is A304G5. We're going to OK.' _OK must be Oklahoma. Jack, they're headed to Oklahoma."

"I think we need to hire her when she graduates," Jack said as he stood up. "Alert all stations, hotels, and restaurants from here to Oklahoma to look for that license plate—"

"Martin, Vivian, and Samantha are already on it. We figure that they couldn't have gone further than Illinois by now, so we're covering up to there."

"You've hit your stride," Jack said, smiling for the first time in days. "You ran the license through the DMV records?"

"Of course," Danny said, handing Jack a sheet of paper. "It's registered to Troy _Barker, _who has a house in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He either switched the name here or he gave Cody the fake name. You know, if I was going to change _my_ last name, I'd change it a little bit more than from Baker to Barker."

"You would, would you?" Jack asked him, with his eyebrows raised.

Danny didn't reply as he got very interested in the DMV papers.

"Why the hell would he drive up from Oklahoma?" Jack asked, knowing better than to push the matter at the time.

"He was probably in town, doing some business in New York, got the call from Cody, and figured he'd just take her down to Oklahoma with him. It's further away. He probably thought the further away from New York that they got, the less chance that we had of finding her."

There was a knock on the door. The two men looked up to see Vivian standing there with a small smile.

"We've got a sighting," she announced. "Local police just spotted the license plate in a small town outside of St. Louis. And the motel there just got a reservation with the name of '_Trey _Baker.' It's him."

"Well, let's get out there," Jack said as he pulled on his jacket.

---

**A/N**: Last night I watched the movie _Thirteen._ I cried. I just completely broke down. It's a really well done movie, although it's rather disturbing. If you want to understand who Heather really is, check out that movie. The movie hit so close to home because of my friend who went through the exact same thing. To see what had happened that vividly was just too much. Watch it with your friends, with your mother, with your siblings.

This is the second to last chapter of the story. Short and sweet. Well, ok, not really sweet. But remember that this is supposed to run like an episode. Anyways, reviews are again appreciated a lot. They keep me going. School is a beast. I'm already dropping one of my honors courses. I just can't deal with it. So expect the next chapter to be up… sometime next week. Thursday or Friday? I'm not sure. Anyways reviews love.

Oh, and if you want to try to figure out how the letter works out, be my guest. It really does work out. I'll show you how at the end of next chapter.

And on one last note, be sure to look for my Danny/OC story coming soon. Currently, I have it titled "It's Like Nothing I've Ever Known."


	6. 06: Take Down

Chapter Six: Take Down

34 hours missing:

Within two hours, the team hand landed in St. Louis and driven out the small town of Casey, Illinois. Local police had the motel under surveillance. They reported seeing a girl of Natalie's description enter the motel alive and well. There was no sound of violence, and as far as everyone knew, she was still alive. But that had been at least three hours ago.

"No one's left the room?" Jack asked the second that he got out of the car a block away from the motel.

"No one, sir," the police replied. "There hasn't been much commotion at all."

"How many are in there?"

"Three plus the girl."

Jack turned to his team. Samantha looked slightly nervous, but relieved that they had found Natalie's location. Vivian was focused on Jack's every movement. Martin was talking to another one of the police and telling them what they needed to do in order to help. Danny was extraordinarily jittery, and just wished that they could move in already. He wasn't taking his eyes off the motel room.

"Martin and Vivian," Jack said finally turning to them. "I want you to cover the two windows over there. Samantha and Danny, you're with me." Jack paused as he looked at Danny's face which had still not looked away from his target. "Danny, you need to keep in control."

"Yes, sir," Danny replied quickly.

"Danny, I mean it."

"Jack, I swear," he said, finally ripping his gaze from the motel. His eyes were pained, and Jack knew all Danny wanted to do was to get into that motel room. "I swear."

"Ok," Jack said, finally satisfied. "Just get the girl out of there alive."

The four of them nodded. Vivian and Martin walked together over to the windows, pulling their guns from their holsters. Jack, Samantha, and Danny proceeded to the front door.

"Jack," Martin crackled from the radio. "I have a visual from the window. I see three of the men, but no girl."

"Hold your fire," Jack commanded. "She's probably in the bathroom or closet. Are they armed?"

"Not that I can see," Martin replied.

"Good. Get ready."

Jack turned to Samantha and Danny, who both gave a stiff nod to signal they were ready. Samantha's nerves had left her, and Danny's jaw was clenched shut. Jack looked at Danny and inclined his head to Danny, telling him to kick it in. Samantha moved over and allowed Danny in front of her. With a quick nod from Jack, Danny raised his foot and kicked as hard as he could.

Everything from there happened so fast that it was mostly a blur. All three of them were shouting "FBI! Freeze! Hands where we can see them! FBI!" One tried to flee through the window, but Martin had him covered. Within thirty seconds, all three men were on the ground, flat on their stomachs with their hands above their heads.

Vivian and Martin rushed in to help cover them as Jack and Danny searched the motel for Natalie.

"Bathroom clear," Jack shouted. "The closet, Danny."

Gun still raised, Danny opened the door to the closet slowly. On the ground, her hands tied and her mouth covered in a navy bandana was Natalie. Her blonde hair was messy and dirty. Her face had several bruises on it, and she had a cut just above her left eye. She looked absolutely terrified as she watched Danny kneel down next to her.

"Hey, hey," he said quietly. "It's ok. My name's Danny Taylor. I'm with the FBI. You're going to be alright."

Natalie tried to speak through her gag, but nothing much came out. Danny took out a knife and cut the ropes around her wrists and ankles. She reached up and took the gag out of her mouth and took in a deep breath. She stared at Danny for several seconds before she started to cry.

"Hey, you're alright," Danny soothed as he reached for her hands to help her up. "Are you hurt? Can you stand?"

Natalie felt her face where her bruises were, but began to stand. She had barely risen when she almost fell again before Danny steadied her.

"I think I twisted my ankle," she whispered. "When they were trying to take me…"

"You gave Cody quite a black eye," Danny smiled. "You can't walk on it?"

Natalie shook her head. "I don't think so."

"Put your arms around me. Martin, come help me," he called over his shoulder. Martin hurried over and put one of her arms around his neck and helped Natalie hobble out of the motel room.

Jack and Samantha and several local police were cuffing the three men. Danny gave them each a very, very dirty and piercing look as he left with Natalie in between him and Martin.

"You have the right to remain silent. You have the right to an attorney," Samantha said as the two men passed her, continuing reading the three men their rights.

Vivian was off to the side, calling the parents, and telling them that they had found Natalie a little beaten up, but nevertheless alive. Danny and Martin helped Natalie into the ambulance while the EMTs checked her over. She remained silent for most of the examination, answering simply "yes" or "no."

Martin's cell phone rang a few moments later, and he excused himself. Danny stayed by Natalie's side until the EMTs declared that she was perfectly fine except a minor sprain, a few bruises, and a shallow cut which they had bandaged. Danny turned his eyes from the girl and watched the three men be led away in the squad cars.

"Thank you."

Danny turned and saw Natalie looking at him with tearful eyes. He gave a small smile.

"It's our job," he said, repeating the line Jack said nearly everyday on every case.

"I'd be dead," she whispered.

"But you're not," Danny said, not quite wanting to go into the details.

"Because of you," she smiled. "I was so stupid to believe them… to believe Heather and Cody."

"Hey," Danny said, turning to her and looking at her in the eyes. "If there's one thing that you're not, it's _stupid._ You flashed the message at the ATM camera. You wrote that hidden message."

"You found the ATM picture?" she asked, her face suddenly lighting up.

Danny nodded. "Of course. It was a nice tip. And the letter saved your life. It was also brilliant."

Natalie blushed. "I wasn't sure if anyone would know what I meant…"

"I did," he said earnestly. "I figured it out. And even Jack thought it was clever. And that's saying something."

Trying not to look too pleased with herself, Natalie turned away from Danny's gaze.

"What's going to happen to Heather?" she asked quietly after several moments of silence, staring at nothing in particular.

Danny sighed and ran his hand through his short, black hair. "We don't know yet."

"She'll go to jail, won't she?"

After a few seconds of hesitation, Danny nodded. "Probably."

"I thought she had changed. I wanted to much to believe that she was the same girl I grew up with. I just wanted my best friend back."

"Danny?"

He turned and saw Martin beckoning him over. Danny excused himself from Natalie and walked over to Martin.

His eyes flickering over to Natalie. "They had a .38 stashed under the bed." He paused. "They would have killed her."

Both he and Danny gazed over at Natalie who was now being ushered into a federal car to be taken home to her parents. With one last look to Danny, she simply stared at him, completely emotionless. The realization of the real danger she was in and the enormous relief now that she was safe was almost too much for her.

"It's such a shame she had such a rotten friend," Martin sympathized.

"She reminds me a little bit of me," Danny said softly, watching the car drive off. "And Rafi."

Martin turned with surprise to him as he hardly ever spoke of his family, but he didn't say anything more.

"Time to head home, boys," Jack said in a tired voice.

Danny and Martin followed him back to the cars. Danny stole a final glance over his shoulder at the three men being put into the police cars.

It was almost bittersweet. Natalie had been rescued: she was alive, and she wasn't badly hurt. But Danny knew that she was going to have a hard time trusting anyone again, just as he had problems letting people into his life.

Staring out the window, not really listening to the conversation between Martin and Vivian, Danny's mind flashed images of two happy, carefree girls lying on their stomachs, painting their nails, giggling together, and simply loving the innocence of being a child. It was sad to think that neither Natalie nor Heather would ever have that opportunity again. And as the car drove on, he wished that he and Rafael could have back the lost time that was wasted by the same thing that destroyed the friendship of Natalie and Heather.

**A/N:** Well. I know you're all sad, but it's over. Boo. I really hope that you guys all liked it, and I'm very flattered with all of your reviews. Especially hotchner's MAGNIFICENT reviews. Hahaha. I realized as I was writing this ending chapters, that there were a few similiarities between Heather/Natalie and Rafael/Danny, and so I just decided to go ahead and make that connection, and give it more of a personal touch for Danny. I'm rather pleased with the end result, so please, leave reviews. They make me extraordinarily happy.

Be looking for my Danny/OC story within the next few weeks. It's a cute, kind of a thriller fiction, and I'm rather attached to it. Currently, it's titled "Like Nothing I've Ever Known," but that might change. (Cookies if you know the song that it's from.)

I'm _super_ excited about the FIFTH SEASON PREMIERE! September 24th! When I started writing this a few months ago, you must realize that I was about mid-second season. I'm now late-fourth season (I'm currently watching "The Road Home." I really disliked "Check Your Head." Any votes that Jack was completely out of character? Although the whole "that's amore" stint at the end with him and Danny (squee) was pretty funny. I'm not going to lie. And the whole _Elena: "Well, I was just saying-- Danny: No, **I** was just saying"_ part was amazing. Because, yeah, totally not the biggest fan of Elena. Did we _ask_ for another agent? No. Does anyone actually like her? No. Were the writers on crack? Yes.) Anyways, so I'm almost caught up and ready for the fifth season.

You know what I've realized? There are so many Danny fan fictions on this site. It's kind of amazing. And you know _why?_ Because the show doesn't really give Danny any subplots, minus the whole Rafael thing (which was, mind you, only two episodes). So thus, we, the great and loyal fans of Danny Taylor, must give ourselves something to satisfy our crave and utmost need for this amazing agent who is seriously lacking some WaT love. Maybe that's why they threw in Elena. To give Danny a little love. But who _really_ wants Elena there? Do I see any hands? No. I could go for that. I never liked Polly from "Little Big Man" (not his type) but seriously, whatever happened to that really cute and witty fire fighter/ fire analysis in "Trip Box"? I liked her. And Danny did too. Are we really going to deny some Danny love? Hmm?

To conclude this story with an insanely long author's note, I would like to thank each and every one of those who reviewed. You shall be remembered dearly. And if anyone should like to chat, hit me up on the xanga (totally always wanted to say that.)

So without further adieu, goodbye. Until next time.

-Laura

Oh, and if you wanted to see how the letter worked out here:

Second of all, I really **h**op**e** **a**nd pray **th**at you und**er**stand wh**a**t's going o**n**. **D**ad, your **co**ol fish **d**o make **y**our pond amazing. **Have** faith in **me**. **There** **are** some things that you have to **d**o **r**eally **u**r**g**ently **s**o th**at** you can be happy. Justin, give that book back that you took from **his** **house**. Yes, I know about it. **I'm in a** quandary about what to **ware** to that party at the girl's **house**. **It's** at **11:15** **on** **Wednesday** **night**. I know that's late, but I really want to go. **A** **man** **i**n the mall dropped **s**omething one day and I was going **picking** it up for him. He thanked **me**. **Up** in the sky, Sirius will be visible **soon**. He was my favorite character as well **because** he's loyal I think **I** **know** **too** **much** about Harry Potter. **I** **think** **that** **he's** going to **kill** Harry in the last book. That hurt **me**. **I** **saw** **his** movie about a **car**. The movie was lame, but the cover was cool. **It** **was** **black** and it had **his** **license** **plate** on it. I'll order it off eBay. The product code **is** **A30**. Order it for me using my debit card. You'll need to know the last three digits of my card which are **4G5**. **We're** **going** **to** see a movie, if that's **OK**.


End file.
